Care home resident reflects on death of the Queen - and remembers death of her father the King

'I burst into tears and my mum asked me why I was crying and I remember saying to her, 'the King is dead''

A care home resident who has lived through the deaths of two monarchs says he still has "very clear" memories of the day Queen Elizabeth II's father King George VI died.

Bill Morrison, aged 75, came together with fellow residents at Ely Court Care Home in Cardiff to watch Her Majesty The Queen's funeral service as it was broadcast live around the world.

At the end of the service, when attendees began to sing God Save the King, Bill and another resident rose to their feet to pay their respects with the help of their carers.

Bill, from Wrexham, told ITV Wales: "We all knew Her Majesty had passed away but we couldn't actually believe it at the time. Today just confirms it to all of us that she has actually gone.

Residents stand to sing God Save the King during the Queen's funeral

"When she died I felt a great sense of loss, because my history with her goes back 57 years. Fifty-seven years ago as an 18-year-old officer cadet in the RAF I swore an oath of allegiance to Her Majesty and I was bound by that oath until the eighth of this month when she passed away.

"She was always there as a reassuring presence. It doesn't matter what sort of crisis the country faced, what type of crisis, we always knew the Queen was there and we felt that she would look after us."

Bill still has vivid memories of the day the Queen's father, King George VI, died in 1952.

He told ITV Wales: "I remember the day her father died very clearly. I was five years of age and in primary school in north Wales and the teacher told us the King had died and then told us all we could go home early.

"So I walked home and then as I entered the house I burst into tears and my mum asked me why I was crying and I remember saying to her: 'The King is dead. Who's going to look after us now?'"

Fellow resident James John Edie, 80, described the royal family as "something which is constant in a world which is fast changing", adding: "I think it could be the end of an era."

Beryl Tranter, 86, said: "As a child growing up, [the Queen] grew up with me... so I followed her from when I was a little girl, and we had to go to the cinema to see her because we had no television."

Beryl continued: "I think we knew her end of era was coming. And King Charles was going to reign after so it is a new era starting now... and I think he'll do a good job.

"Like any funeral you are sad. Because you know it's the end."

The remarkable life of the Queen remembered in our latest episode of What You Need To Know